down on the convention floor. bob, the republicans were hoping for a bounce in the poles after-- polls after their convention last week but a new gallop poll shows the race is still tied. why is this so hard to budge. >> schieffer: the balance op pole shows mitt romney got no bounce at all out of his convention. now that may simply be because there is so few undecided voters this time around. there just may be no bump to get for either candidate, barack obama may not get one. barack obama also got some bad news today. an abc poll shows that like mitt romney, his unfavor

ability rating now are higher than his favorable rating. so both ofthese candidates have got a little work to do. >> pinkston: thanks, bob. norah o'donnell, cohost of cbs this morning is down on the convention floor, norah. >> reporter: this crowd is shouting barack obama will move this country forward, not back. that is the big challenge for democrats this week. the president has got to win over a majority of americans who still disapprove of the way he is handling the economy. it's not just about convincing voters that the economy is getting better. he has got to address some of the real concerns, anxiety among middle class voters. and that's what first lady michelle obama is going to try to do tonight. >> pinkston: an michelle obama will be coming up portly but first the keynote address by the mayor of san antonio julian castro right after these messages.

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>> schieffer: . >> pelley: back now on its first night of the democratic national convention, here in charlotte, byron pitts has been talking to some of the delegates down on the convention floor, byron. >> reporter: despite the noises and signs,-- the enthusiasm, across the country, scott, they hope that the mayor of san antonio and mr. obama-- mrs. obama can help close the gap. >> pelley: we'll be hearing from the mayor of san antonio delivering the keynote address shortly. he is a young man, julian castro is his name. and he will be introduced to most of the country right here tonight. he is the first hispanic keynote speaker in the history of the democratic party's national convention. and john dickerson, our political director, why the emphasis on a hispanic

keynote speaker tonight? >> well, the hispanic population is the most populous minority and the fastest growing, it is a crucial part of barack obama's voting coalition. but there has been some disappointment that president obama has not delivered on issues. so tonight the message-- message being sent here is a hispanic has pride of place. this is a very important moment. and this is about mobile identifiesing those hispanic voters who will be so important to the president. >> john, thank you very much. bill plante who has covered about 16 of these conventions is down on the convention floor for us tonight. >> scott, the enthusiasm down here is quite contagious, i have to tell you. one of the reasons that the-- what's gone on this evening has been so well-received is that so much of it has been pitched to women. and women make up 50% of the delegates at this convention. it is a very, very deliberate move because the president needs women, particularly college educated women to get back

and vote for him in the same numbers as they did in 2008. so that theme, he even touched on the military theme tonight. they had tammy duckworth, a disabled veteran. all of these things are deliberately targeted at the people obama needs to win another election, scott. >> pelley: bill, thank you very much. now this is going to be interesting visually for those of you at home. the man speaking, introducing the mayor of san antonio is his identical twin brother. this is joaquin castro who is a budding young politician in san antonio himself. both he and his brother went to standford university and then graduated with law degrees from harvard. joaquin is delivering the introduction for his brother, and pretty soon we will have both castros out on stage. and the resemblance is quite remarkable. bob, the party's putting a

lot of emphasis on hispanics this evening. >> schieffer: they absolutely are. i mean they see the demographics in this country. they are trying to get this vote. and it is very important for them to have it. this must be, though, the first time in the history of one of these conventions that an identical twin has introduced his brother. what a moment. >> pelley: and here comes julian castro now. the 37-year-old mayor of san antonia, texas, the youngest mayor of any major city in america, standing there with his twin brother, who just made the introduction. and now the keynote address. >> thank you. thank you. (cheers and applause) >> thank you. >> thank you. thank you. my fellow democrats, my

fellow americans, my fellow texans-- (cheers and applause) >> i stand before you tonight as a young american, a proud american, of a generation born as the cold war receded, shaped by the tragedy of 9/11, connected by the digital revolution and determined to re-elect the man who will make the 21st century another american century, president barack obama! (cheers and applause) the unlikely journey that brought me here tonight began many miles from this podium. my brother joaquin and i grew up with my mother, rosie and my grandmother victoria. my grandmother was ar orphan, as a young girl she had to leave her home in mexico and move to san antonio where

some relatives agreed to take it in. she never made it past the fourth grade. she had to drop out and start working to help her family. my grandmother spent her whole life working as a maid, a cook and a baby-sitter. barely scraping by, but still, working hard to give my mother her only child, a chance in life so that my mother could give my brother and me an even better one. as my grandmother got older, she begged my mother to give her grandchildren. she prayed to god for just one grand baby before she died. you can imagine her excitement when she found out her prayer was be answered, twice over. she was so excited that the day before joaquin and i were born she entered a menuodo cookoff and she won $300 that is how she paid our hospital bill. by the time joaquin and i came along, this incredible woman had taught herself to

read and write in both spanish and english. i can still see her in the room that we shared with her, reading her agatha christie novels late into the night. and i can still remember her every morning as joaquin and i walked out the front door to school, making the sign of the cross behind us, saying-- may god bless you. my grandmother didn't live to see us begin our lives in public service. but she probably would have thought it extraordinary that just two generations after she arrived in san antonio, one grandson would be the mayor, and the other would be on his way, the good people of san antonio willing, to the united states congress! (cheers and applause) my family story isn't special.

what's special is the america that makes our story possible. ours is a nation like no other, a place where great journeys can be made in a single generation no matter who you are or where you come from, the path is always forward. (cheers and applause) america didn't become the land of opportunity by accident. my grandmother's generation and generations before always saw beyond the horizons of their own lives and their own circumstances. they believed that opportunity created today would lead to prosperity tomorrow. that's the country they envisioned and that's the country they helped build. the roads and bridges they built, the schools and universities they created, the rights they fought for and won. these opened the doors to a decent job, a secure retirement, the chance for your children to do better than you did.

and that's the middle class, the engine of our economic growth. with hard work, everybody ought to be able to get there. and with hard work, everybody ought to be able to stay there. and go beyond. the dream of raising a family in a place where hard work is rewarded is not unique to americans. it's a human dream. one that calls across oceans and borders. the dream is universal, but america makes it possible. and our investment in opportunity makes it a reality. now in texas, we believe in the rugged individual. texans may be the one place where people actually still

have bootstraps! and we expect folks to pull themselves up by them. but we also recognize that there is some things we can't do alone. we have to come together and invest in opportunity today for prosperity tomorrow. (cheers and applause) and it starts with education. 20 years ago joaquin and i left home for college and then for law school. in those classrooms we met some of the brightest folks in the world. but at the end of our days there, i couldn't help but to think back to my classmates at thomas jefferson high school in san antonio, they had the same talents, the same brains, the same dreams as the folks we sat with in sanford and harvard.

i realized the difference wasn't one of intelligence or drive. the difference was opportunity. (cheers and applause) in my city of san antonio, we get that. so we're working to ensure that more four-year-olds is have access to prek. we opened cafe college where students get help with everything from college test prep to financial aid paperwork. we know that you can't be probusiness unless you're pro education. (cheers and applause) we know that prek and student loans aren't charity. they're a smart investment in a workforce that can fill and create the jobs of tomorrow. we're investing in young minds today, to be competitive in the global economy tomorrow. and it's paying off. last year the milken

nation's topked san antonio as the nation's top performing local economy. and we're only getting started. (cheers and applause) >> opportunity today, prosperity tomorrow. now like many of you, i watched last week's republican convention -- >> boo! >> and they told a few stories of individual success. we all celebrate individual success but the question is how do we multiply that success? the answer is president barack obama. mitt romney quite simply doesn't get it. a few months ago he visited a university in ohio and gave students there a little

entrepreneurial advice. start a business, he said. but how? borrow money if you have to from your parents, he told them. gee, why didn't i think of that. (laughter) some people are lucky enough to borrow money from their parents. but that shouldn't determine whether you can pursue your dreams. not in america, not here, not in the 21st century. i don't think governor romney meant any harm. i think he's a good guy. he just has no idea how good he's had it. we know that in our free market economy some will prosper more than others. what we don't accept is the idea that some folks won't even get a chance. and the thing is, mitt

romney and the republican party are perfectly comfortable with that america. in fact, that's exactly what they're promising us. the romney ryan budget doesn't just cut medication, medicare, transportation and job training. it doesn't just pummel the middle class, it dismantles it. it dismantles what generations before have built to ensure that everybody can enter and stay in the middle class. when it comes to getting the middle class back to work, mitt romney says no! when it comes to respecting women's rights, mitt romney says no! when it comes to letting people love who they love and marry who they want to marry, mitt romney says no! when it comes to expanding access to good health care, mitt romney say -- >> says no! >> actually-- actually

actually, actually, mitt romney said yes, and then he says no. governor romney-- has undergone an extreme makeover. and it ain't pretty. so here's what we're going to-- romney in november. we're going to say, no! df all the fictions we heard last week in tamm pab, the one i find most troubling is this. if we all just go our own way, our nation will be stronger for it. because if we sever the threads that connect us, the only people who will go far are those who are already ahead. we all understand that freedom isn't free. what romney and ryan don't understand is that neither is opportunity. we have to invest in it.

(cheers and applause) republicans tell us that if the most prosperous among us do even better, that somehow the rest of us will too. folks, we've heard that before. first they called it trickle down. then they called it supply side. now it's ryan-- romney ryan or is it ryan romney. either way the theory has been tested, it failed, our economy failed, the middle class paid the price. your family paid the price. mitt romney just doesn't get it. (cheers and applause) but barack obama gets it. (cheers and applause) he understands that when we invest in people, we're investing in o shared

prosperity. and when we neglect that responsibility, we risk our promise as a nation. just a few years ago families that had never asked for anything found themselves at risk of losing everything. and the dream my grandmother held that work would be rewarded, that the middle class would be there, if not for her but for her children, that dream was being crushed. but then president obama took office and he took action. when detroit was in trouble, president obama saved the auto industry and saved a million jobs. (cheers and applause) seven presidents before him, republicans and democrats tried to expand health care to all americans. president obama got it done. (cheers and applause) he made a historic investment to lift our nation's public schools and expanded pell grants so that

more young people can afford college. and because he knows that we don't have an ounce of talent to waste, the president took action to lift the shadow of demoretation from a generation of young, law-abiding immigrants called dreamers. (cheers and applause) now it's time for congress to enshrine in law their right to pursue their dreams in the only place they've ever called home, america. four years ago, america stood on the brink of a depression. despite incredible odds, and united republican opposition, our president took action. and now we've seen 4.5 million new jobs. he knows better than anyone that there's more hard work to do. but we're making progress and now we need to make a choice.

it it's a choice between a country where the middle class pays more so that millionaires can pay less. or a country where everybody pays their fair share so we can reduce the deficit and create the jobs of the future. (cheers and applause) it's a choice between a nation that slashes funding for our schools and guts pell grants or a nation that invests more in education. and it's a choice between a politician who rewards companies that ship american jobs overseas or a leader who brings jobs back home. (cheers and applause) this is the choice before us. and to me, to my generation and for all the generations to come, our choice is clear. our choice is a man who's always chosen us. a man who already is our president, barack obama! (cheers and applause)

>> four more years! four more years! four more years! four more years! >> in the end, the american dream-- the american dream is not a sprint, or even a marathon. but a relay. our families don't always cross the finish line in the span of one generation. but each generation passes on to the next the fruits of their labor. my grandmother never owned a house. she cleaned other people's houses so she could afford to rent her own. but she saw her daughter become the first in her family to graduate from college. and my mother fought hard for civil rights. so that instead of a mop, i

could hold this microphone. (cheers and applause) and while she may be proud of me tonight, i got to tell you, mom, i'm even more proud of you. (cheers and applause) today my beautiful wife, erica and i are the proud parents of a 3-year-old little girl, karyna victoria named after my grandmother. a couple of mondays ago-- a

couple of mondays ago was her first day of pre-k. and as we dropped her off, we walked out of the classroom. and i found myself whispering to her, as was once whispered to me-- may god bless you. (applause) sh she's estimate young and her dreams are far off yet. but i hope she'll reach them. as a dad i'm going to do my part. and i know she'll do hers. but our responsible as a nation is to come together and do our part as one community, one united states of america, to ensure opportunity for all of our children. the days we live in are not easy ones. but we have seen days like this before. and america prevailed. with the wisdom of our founders and the values of

our families, america prevailed. with each generation going further than the last, america prevailed. and with the opportunity we build today for a shared prosperity tomorrow, america will prevail. dt begins with re-elected barack obama. it begins with you. it begins now. may god bless you!, and may god bless the united states of america. (cheers and applause) >> thank you! (cheers and applause) >> pelley: julian castro, mayor of san antonio, the republican's brought their young talent out last week. and the democrats this week do the same. it was in 2004 that an unknown state senator delivered that keynote address to the democratic national convention. his name was barack obama. elected president four years later. bob shooefer, what did you think? >> schieffer: well, i'll tell you, what you saw there tonight, scott, was a young,

bright, energetic, modern politician who somewhere along the way learned to make an old-fashioned political speech. i'm not sure that i was beginning to wonder if anybody remembered. this young man you're going to hear some more from him. >> pelley: byron pitts is down on the convention floor with the texas delegation. >> reporter: scott, there was great pride during this speech. joining us, an attorney from san anton yo. you knew this mayor before he was born, you knew his family. i watched you watch him speak, almost the proud father listening to him. >> you know, he just knocked it out of the ballpark. and i think today was a very proud moment for all of us in san antonio but all of us in texas. you know, julian embodies so many dreams and so many wishes, good wishes of a lot of people. and tonight he did great and he really made us all very proud. >> reporter: thank you so much. >> thank you. >> reporter: scott, as one texas delegate told me, he has a hollywood smile and a hor acia alger back story, a lot to like in this young

man, scott. >> pelley: thanks. still ahead, we will talk to mayor rahm emmanuel of chicago and then hear from the first lady. cbs news coverage at the democratic national convention continues in just a moment. if you made a list of countries from around the world... ...with the best math scores. ...the united states would be on that list. in 25th place. let's raise academic standards across the nation. let's get back to the head of the class. let's solve this.

>> pelley: rahm emmanuel was president obama's first chief of staff at the white house. he's now mayor of the president's hometown chicago. emmanuel addressed the convention earlier this evening. he said we face a once in a generation moment in american history. and fortunately we have a ones in a generation president. after that speech, the mayor stopped by to talk to us. mr. mayor, washington is broken, the parties are at war with each other. if the president is re-elected, what will change? how will he get legislation?

turned into law? >> well, i'm a product, we all are of our own experiences, i remember working for president clinton, we had a big fight about medicare, med education, the environment. he gets re-elected, nine months later we have a bald budget which is what the fight was about. the republicans realized. you're president, four more years, let's get it done. there was a fight beforehand, that literally they shut the government over, they thought oh my god this the end of politics as we know it and literally two years later, with one election this is why i believe elections have meaning, you had a bald budget agreement. >> pelley: . >> schieffer: let me ask you this paul ryan told us, whatever you think about paul ryan, he is the chairman of the house budget committee, he told us that he hadn't talked to president obama since last summer. >> listen, bob, i served with paul on ways-and-means and on budget when we were colleagues. and you know, nice guy, he knew his stuff when he

talked about it i disagreed with him. we were sparring partners in that sense. that is more of a product of what is happening before election than which would say what happened after an election. i really believe this. elections have meaning. and if president clinton won, the republicans became the house just like he talked about. and then you had a balanced-budget agreement. i think if the president and i believe he will win, the people will see that as not like they said the first four years. and i remember literally in the worst economic recession, they said and republicans said defeating him was our number one job. not finding a job. i believe elections have meaning and the meaning will be okay, let's work it out. they won, the american people have spoken. i think they will pay a political price if they continue that politics. >> rahm emmanuel, mayor of chicago, former chief of staff to president obama. thanks for being with us. >> thank you very much. thanks for having me. >> pelley: the highlight of this first night of the convention is still ahead. first lady michelle obama's speech is next. heavy load in america. but mitt romney plan, a middle class to $2,000 more a year in taxes. multi-millionaires like himself hits the middle class harder... bigger break. forward for america? this message.

>> pelley: on this first night of the democratic convention we're about ho their from michelle obama. earlier today the president explained it this way. he said it's just like a relay. you start off with your fastest person. the president will be watching tonight from the white house. he stayed behind to see his daughter's off on their first day of a new school year. norah o'donnell of cbs this morning is down on the convention floor, norah? >> reporter: hi there, scott, yes, we will hear from first lady michelle obama. it-- michelle obama will make the case that barak has got your back, she will also talk about the war in afghanistan as one of mr. o bam-- mrs. obama's zuningt causes has been working with

veterans from iraq and afghanistan and certainly their families. that's why scott, the woman who is introducing michelle obama right now deserves special mention. her nay is elaine bry. she has five kids, four of them are serving in four different branches of the military. and they're trying to convince the fifth child to join the coast guard becauses that eat one part of the service that the military they aren't a part of. >> pelley: she's wearing a pin that says marine corps, air force, army and marines, absolutely. bob schieffer-- schieffer, ann romney last week gave a great speech to that convention, maybe the best speech of the whole convention. i think a lot of people in the obama campaign think it was the best speech. but they're expecting a lot from michelle obama tonight. you know, their campaign manager, i asked him today, i said how important is michelle obama to the obama campaign.

he said i'll tell you how important she is she is the single most popular figure in american politics today. he said we want her out there. >> pelley: bob, thanks very much. let's listen in, not on a politician but on elaine, a mom from winona, ohio. >> so like i said, i'm not a political person. but i'm a mom. and if someone is there for my family and families like mine, then i'll be there for them. that's why i am so proud to introduce my fellow mom and our first lady michelle obama. (cheers and applause) >> oh yeah, baby!

here i am, signed, sealed delivered i'm yours. signed, sealed delivers i'm yours. (cheers and applause) >> thank you, thank you so much. thank you.

thank you so much. (cheers and applause) >> with your help. >> four more years! four more years! >> i want to sart by thanking elaine. elaine, thank you so much. we are so grateful for your family's service and sacrifice. and we will always have your back. (cheers and applause) other than the past few years as first lady i have had the extraordinary privilege of traveling all across this country. and everywhere ivy gone and the people i've met and the stories i've heard, i have seen the very best of the american spirit. i've seen it in the incredible kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially our girls. i have seen it in teachers,

in a near bankrupt school district who vowed to keep teaching without pay. i've seen it in people without become heroes at a moment's notice, diving into harm away to save others, flying across the country to put out a fire, driving for hours to bail out a flooded town. and i have seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military families. (cheers and applause) in wounded warriors who tell me they're not just going to walk again, they're going to run and they're going to run marathons. in the young man blinded by a bomb in afghanistan without said simply i'd give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance to do what i have done and what i can still do. every day the people i meet inspire me. every day they make me proud.

every day they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation on earth. (cheers and applause) serving as your first lady is an honor and a privilege. but back when we first came together four years ago i still had some concerns about this on youree we had begun. while i believed deeply in my husband's vision for this country and i was certain he would make an extraordinary president, like any mother, i was worried about what it would mean for our girls if he got that chance. how will we keep them grounded under the glare of the national spotlight. how would they feeling about uprooted from their school, their friends and the only home they'd ever known. see, our life before moving to washington was-- was filled with simple joys. saturdays at soccer games, sundays at grandma's house. and a date night for barack

and me was either dinner or a movie because as an exhausted mom i couldn't stay awake for both. and the truth is i loved the life we had built for our girls. and i deeply loved the man hi built that love with. and i didn't want that to change if he became president. (cheers and applause) i loved barack just the way he was. you see, even back then when barack was a senator and a presidential candidate to me was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in a car that was so rusted out, i could actually see the pavement going by in a hole in the passenger side door. he was the guy whose proudest possession was a coffee table he found in a dumpster. (laughter) >> and whose only pair of

decent shoes was a half size too small. but see, when barack started telling me about his family, see, now that's when i knew hi found a kindred spirit. someone whose values and upbringing were so much like mine. you see barack and pri both raised by family was didn't have much in the way of money or material possessions but who had given us something far more valuable. their unconditional love. their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go places they had never imagined for themselves. my father was a pump operator at the city water plant. and he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when my bother and pri young. and even as a skid, i knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain. and i knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to simply get out of bed. but every morning, i watched

my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up, and slowly shave and button his uniform. and when he returned home after a long day's work, my brother and i would stand at the top of the stairs of our little apartment, patiently waiting to greet him, watching as he reached down to lift one leg and then the other, to slowly climb his way into our arms. but despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work. he and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of education they could only dream of. (applause) and when my brother and i finally made it to college, nearly all of our tuition came from student loans and grants. but my dad still had to pay a tiny portion of that tuition himself. and every semester he was

determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he fell short. he was so proud to be sending his kids to college. and he made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was late. you see, for my dad, that is what it meant to be a man. like so many of us, that was the measure of his success in life. being able to earn a decent living that allowed him to support his family. and as i got to know barack, i realized that even though he had grown-up all the way across the country, he had been brought up just like me. barack was raised by a single mom who struggled to pay the bills an grandparents who stepped in when she needed help. baracq's grandmother started out as a secretary at a community bank and she moved

quickly up the ranks. but like so many women, she hit a glass ceiling. and for years men no more qualified than she was, men she had actually trained were promoted up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while barack family continued to scrape by. but day after day, she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus, arriving at work before anyone else, giving her best without complaint or regret. and she would often tell barack, so long as you kids do well, that's all that really matters. like so many american families, our families weren't asking for much. they didn't begrudge anyone else's success or care that others had much more than they did. in fact, they admired it. they simply believed in that fundamental american promise,

that even if you don't start out with much, if you work hard and do what you are supposed to do, you should be able to build a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and grandkids. that's how they raised us. (applause) that's what we learned from their example. we learned about dignity and decency. that how hard you work matters more than how much you make. that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself. we learned about honesty and integrity. that the truth matters. that you don't take shortcuts. >> (cheers and applause) >> or play by your own set of rules. and success doesn't count unless you earn it fair and square. we learned about gratitude and humility.

that so many people had a hand in our success from the teachers who inspired us to the janitors who kept our school clean. and we were taught to value every one's contributions and treat everyone with respect. those are the values that barack and i and so many of you are trying to pass on to our own children. that's who we are. and standing before you four years ago, i knew that i didn't want any of that to change if barack became president. well, today, after so many struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways i never could have imagined, i have seen firsthand that being president doesn't change who you are. no, it reveals who you are. (cheers and applause)

you see, i've gotten to see up close and personal what being matt really looks like. and i've seen how the issues that come across the president's desk are always the hard ones. the problems were no amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer. the judgement calls where the stakes are so high and there is no margin for error. and as president you're going to get all kinds of advice from all kinds of people. but at the end of the day when it comes time to make that decision as president, all you have to guide you are your values and your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are. (applause) so when it comes to rebuilding our economy, barack is thinking about

folks like my dad and like his grandmother. he's thinking about the pride that comes from a hard day's work. that's why he signed the lilly ledbetter fair pay act to help women get equal pay for equal work. (applause) that's why he cut taxes for working families and small businesses, and fought to get the auto industry back on its feet. (applause) that's how he brought our economy from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again, jobs you can raise a family on, good jobs, right here in the united states of america. (applause) when it comes to the health of our families, barak refused to listen to all those folks who told him to leave health reform for another day, another president. he didn't care whether it was the easy thing to do politically, no, that's not how he was raised.

he cared that it was the right thing to do. (applause) he did it because he believes that here in america our grandparent its should be able to afford their medicine, our kids should be able to see a doctor when they're sick and no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or an illness. (cheers and applause) and he believes that women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies and our health care. that's what my husband stands for. with dheers (cheers and applause) when it comes to giving our kids the education they deserve, barack knows that like me and like so many of

you, he never could have attended college without financial aid. and believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly student loan bill was actually higher than our mortgage. yeah, we were so young, so in love, and so in debt. and that's why barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep interest rates down. because he wants every young person to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college without a mountain of debt. so in the end, for barack, these issues aren't political. they're personal. because barack knows what it means when a family struggles. he knows what it means to want something more for your kids and grandkids. barack knows the american dream because he's lived it. and he wants everyone in

this country, everyone to have the same opportunity, no matter who we are or where we're from or what we look like or who we love. (cheers and applause) and he believes that when you work hard and have done well, and walked through that doorway of opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. no, you reach back and you give other folks the same chances that help you succeed. (cheers and applause) so when people ask me whether being in the white house has changed my his, i

can honestly say that when it comes to his character and his convictions and his heart, barack obama is still the same man i fell in love with all those years ago. yeah. he is the same man who started his career by turning down high-paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods, where a seal plant had shut down, fighting to build those communities and get folk back to work. because barack success isn't about how much money you make, it's about the difference you make in people's lives. (cheers and applause) he's the same man, he's the same man when our girls were

first born would anxiously check their cribs every few minutes to ensure that they were still breathing. proudly showing them off to every one we knew. you see, that's the man who sits down with me and our girls for dinner nearly every night, patiently answering questions about issues in the news, strategizing about middle school friendships. that's the man i see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his guessing, pouring over the letters people have sent him. the letter from the father struggling to pay his bills. from the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company won't cover her care. from the young people with so much promise but so few opportunities. >> and i see the concern in his eyes. and i hear the determination

in his voice acetals me you won't believe what these folks are going through, michelle, it's not right. we've got to keep working to fix this. we've got so much more to do. (cheers and applause) i see-- i see how those stories-- four more years! four more years! four more years! four more years! >> four more years! >> i see how those stories, our collection of struggles and hopes and dreams, i see how that is what drives barack obama every single day. and i didn't think that it was possible, but let me tell you today, i love my husband even more than i did four years ago.

even more than i did 23 years ago when we first met. let me tell you why. see, i love that he has never forgotten how he started. i love that we can trust barack to do what he says he's going to do, even when it's hard, especially when it's hard. i love that for barack, there is no such thing as us and them. he doesn't care whether you are a democrat, a republican, or none of the above. he knows that we all love our country. and he is always ready to listen to good ideas. he's always looking for the very best in everyone he meets. and i love that even if the toughest moments, when we're all sweating it, when we're worried that the bill won't pass and it seems like all is lost, see, barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise,

no. just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and moving forward, with patience and wisdom and courage and grace. (applause) and he reminded me, he reminded me that we are playing a long game here. and that change is hard, and change is slow and it never happens all at once. but eventually we get there. we always do. we get there because of folks like my dad. folks like barack's grandmother, men and women who said to themselves, i may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams but maybe my children will. maybe my grandchildren will. see, so many of us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice and longing in steadfast love because time and again they swallow